Cleft the Devil's Foot
by Wilona Riva
Summary: It begins when Maddie finds a box of black hair dye in Danny's trash can.
1. Chapter 1

Cleft the Devil's Foot

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom, by rights, belongs to Nickelodeon and Butch Hartman.

* * *

Maddie stared down at the box in her son's trash can.

"Hair dye? Why would he be dying his hair black? He already has black hair," she murmured, staring down at the box in her hands.

She hardly knew her son anymore.

"Skulker hurt Ember again?" Sam asked, noting the faint black of dye on Danny's cheek.

"Yeah," came the mumbled reply. "I have to be in ghost form in order for my healing powers to work and it's becoming harder and harder to hide the changes from my parents. I have to dye my hair once a week just to hide the white hairs."

"At least you don't have to wear contacts yet," Tucker pointed out.

"Yet," Danny pointed out. "I'm afraid one of these days, they're going to find out. What if I left any evidence behind?"

"You did remember to empty the trash can last night, right?"Sam asked, frowning a bit.

Danny's blue eyes widened in horror. "Uh-oh!"

Uh-oh, indeed.

Maddie placed the box of black hair dye in front of her husband, who tinkering yet on the Fenton Ghost Finder.

Jack squinted at the box and then looked up at Maddie. "Not a good color for you, Mads."

"No, Jack," Maddie said, sitting down. "I found this in Danny's trash can when I went to clean up his room this morning."

Jack scratched his head. "Why would our son want to dye his hair black? He already has black hair."

Maddie sighed. "That's what I would like to know as well."

Jack was about to reply when the Fenton Spectral Alarms sounded in the basement. Something was coming through the portal.

"Need the Healer," the ghost gasped out, her arm oozing greenish blood from the lacerated wound she was barely holding closed with her other hand.

Jack and Maddie glanced at each other.

"Who is this healer?" Maddie asked her.

"And who are you, for that matter, spook?" Jack demanded.

"I am Gilda the Golden, daughter of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. My father, in brief respite from his torment, has told me of the Healer-only one of three halfas in existence who can heal any ghost ailment."

"What is a halfa?" Jack asked, throwing caution to the wind. If the ghost had meant to attack, she would have done so by now. Besides, with flaming red hair and glowing amber eyes, she was kind of cute.

"Please, I must find the Healer. I have not much time," the ghost pleaded again.

"Gilda, I'm going to assume that a halfa is someone who half-ghost and half-human. Am I correct?" Maddie asked, coaxing her out of the portal and onto an examination table. "I'm not a medical expert, but I can suture up those wounds until your Healer arrives."

"He comes," Gilda said, turning towards the stairs leading to the kitchen.

* * *

Danny's eyes went blank. "I am needed," he said, pushing his chair back from the lunch table.

"Okay, dude, we'll cover for you," Tucker replied, pouring chocolate milk into his spaghetti and digging in with his spork.

"That is so gross," Sam said, a look of disgust on her face.

"For an encore and fifty bucks, I'll eat my milk carton," Tucker said, a wide grin on his face.

"Don't encourage him, Sam," Danny said, coming out of his trance. He ducked under the table and turned invisible. "The ghost is at my house. Let's hope my parents won't notice."

"Not likely," Sam retorted.

"Uh, Sam?" Tucker tapped her on the shoulder.

She looked up to find the whole cafeteria staring at her.

"Mind your own business!" she snapped.

Normal life resumed.

"Healer," she whispered in awe, as Danny came down the stairs.

"Gilda," he replied, noting his parents' presence with a flicker of the eyes. "Let me see the wound."

"I was fighting the Death Guardian, Cerberus, who tore my flesh. It was my father who told me to find you," she replied. "How is it you know my name?"

"It comes with the territory. Mom cleaned and sutured the wounds, so only a little power will be needed," he replied, triggering the transformation rings.

Maddie watched in amazement as black turned white and blue became green. This was her little boy, this alien creature? She grabbed Jack's arm as he reached for a Fenton thermos.

"Wait until he's done," she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

Cleft the Devil's Foot

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom, by rights, belongs to Nickelodeon and Butch Hartman.

* * *

_My cat's meowing for fish, so I'll make this note brief. I know school lets out at 3:00, but for the sake of this story, I'm going to put it half an hour earlier._

* * *

"Thank you, Healer," the ghost girl whispered. "Gilda the Golden will not forget your kindness."

Danny bowed from the waist to her. "It is an honor to help the daughter of the Firebringer," he said. His long white bangs flopped into his eyes; he blew them out of his face.

"Perhaps, Healer, you should spike your hair like some of the human younglings of your age," Gilda laughed. "You would be cute, methinks."

Danny grimaced. "You sound like Princess Dorathea," he observed. He flicked one wary eye at his parents. "I think you should go now."

Gilda flicked her wrist and a small golden ball of ectoplasm appeared. "The customary payment, Healer."

"Accepted," Danny replied, allowing the glowing ball to absorb through his skin. He formed an icy rose with his cryokinetic energy and passed it to her. "This should appease the mutt."

Gilda threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, the Hell-Hound would be furious to hear himself so described. Fare thee well, young halfa." She flew off through the open portal, which mysteriously shut behind her.

Danny turned in time to see his father aim the Fenton Thermos at him. "Why?" he asked in a barely audible whisper, as he was sucked into the apparatus.

* * *

Jack felt bittersweet glory in his mouth as he eyed the clock. 3:00 p.m. "Why isn't he home yet? Doesn't school let out at 2:30?"

Maddie looked up at the clock and then at the front door. "Jack, I don't know how it is possible, but for some reason, I think that ghost was telling the truth. We saw him transform before our eyes."

Jack sighed. "I know, Mads, but I still can't believe Danny could be dead. I mean, it's not possible for someone to be half-dead and half-living. Is it?"

"I don't know, Jack."

* * *

Mr. Lancer paused in the act of closing his classroom door, when he heard a most unusual conversation coming from two very familiar students by the lockers across the way.

_"He didn't come back, Sam They won't start missing him for another hour at least."_

_"I think they caught him. Don't you think it's strange none of the teachers in his afternoon classes asked where he was?"_

_"Could be part of the Healer thing. Maybe we should stop by his house just in case. We may have to let him out of a thermos or something."_

_"You're probably right, Tucker. It's just that..."_

_"You're afraid his parents'll kill him if they knew. They won't. I've known the Fentons since forever. They would never kill Danny, maybe figuratively for breaking curfew, but never for keeping the fact that he's Phantom."_

Mr. Lancer quietly closed the door behind him. The school faculty was well aware of Danny's dual identity; you couldn't hide that fact from the ghost cameras the school had installed due to the increased ghost attacks. Still, he mused, perhaps he should come clean.

"Mr. Foley, Mrs. Manson," he called to the two students. "Will you accompany me to my office, please? I think there is something we need to discuss."

"Yes, sir," both students mumbled, shooting worried glances at each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Cleft the Devil's Foot

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom, by rights, belongs to Nickelodeon and Butch Hartman.

* * *

Sam and Tucker looked at each other nervously as Mr. Lancer escorted them to his office and closed the door.

Motioning for them to be seated, the Vice Principal eyed the clock. _This should take more than a few minutes._

He sat down behind his desk, facing them and sighed. Rubbing his goatee, he glanced again at the clock. "Okay, where shall we begin?" he asked.

Sam elbowed Tucker, who yelped. "Sorry, Mr. Lancer," Tucker apologized.

Mr. Lancer smiled. "Since Miss Manson began, how about you explain about Mr. Fenton's absence this afternoon, Mr. Foley?"

The teenage boy flicked his eyes to Sam, who shook her head warningly. "I afraid we can't, Mr. Lancer. We're Danny's best friends; we don't reveal his secrets."

Mr. Lancer pulled out a remote. Pressing a button, he directed their attention to a row of monitors that emerged from the wall behind them. "These are the new ghost cameras the school installed along with the alarms due to the increased ghost attacks," he said. "Now, tell me what do you see at precisely, oh, say, lunchtime today?"

Sam's blood ran cold as she watched her best friend duck under the table and transform, before turning invisible. _Danny..._

Tucker's jaw dropped open, closed, dropped open again. _We are so busted._

Mr. Lancer turned off the monitors, which returned to their resting places in the wall's cavity. "Care to try again?" he asked.

Tucker straightened his beret. "Well," he said, clearing his throat, "It began like this, Mr. Lancer..."

* * *

"Okay, Jack, let Phantom out," Maddie said, watching the clock approach 4 o'clock.

"Can we rip him apart molecule by molecule?" her husband asked hopefully.

"No, Jack," Maddie said, touching his arm gently. "We're going to give him a chance to explain himself."

**"Thank you!"** Phantom's voice shouted from the thermos. **"It's getting cramped in here. I'm lucky I haven't developed claustrophobia from all the times I've been sucked in this contraption."**

Jack nodded. "He is awfully loud. Well, here goes nothing, Mads." He pressed the button releasing the ghost, as Maddie grabbed the Fenton Fisher, ready to bind the ghost the moment he appeared.

The glowing of the thermos' internal light intensified signalling Phantom's arrival in the world of men. He fell onto the floor, gasping for air. Maddie bound his arms to his torso with the glowing strands of nylon and shoved him into a chair. "Okay, ghost, explain. How are you and Danny related?"

Phantom looked up at her in puzzlement. "Huh?"

"I saw you enter our basement lab in his form. What did you do to our son?"

Phantom eyed her silently, then looked at his father. He gulped and took a moment to think over his options. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously-something Danny was prone to do a lot of lately. "Kind of hard to explain this, but I'm what you call a halfa-a ghost/human hybrid."

Jack frowned. "I've heard of this anomaly being possible, but it's only just a theory."

"No, Dad," Phantom said giving in to the idea that his parents had found him out. "It began the day you showed Sam, Tucker, and I the Fenton Portal you and Mom had been working on for years."

"Danny?" Maddie whispered hoarsely. "How?"

Phantom shook his head. "Let me start at the beginning, Mom."


	4. Chapter 4

Cleft the Devil's Foot

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom, by rights, belongs to Nickelodeon and Butch Hartman.

* * *

Maddie and Jack listened as Phantom explained from the beginning his fiery baptism into the world of ghosts. All of it sounded highly preposterous to them, but Maddie knew they were going to have trust him with telling them the truth or not.

She held up the box of hair dye. "Care to explain what this was doing in my son's trash can, ghost?"

Danny blanched. "Oh, _that_." He sighed. "It's getting harder and harder for me to remain human. My hair has been turning more and more white every time I use my healing powers. The dye was fundamental in keeping you guys from finding out my secret, but I think that is a moot point by now."

"Hey, Danny-boy, can you show us how the transformation works? It has to be cool!" Jack interrupted, his enthusiasm catching.

Danny smiled. "You must unbind me, first."

Jack grinned and produced a pair of glowing pliers. "The Fenton Wire Cutters to the rescue."

"Jack, don't!" Maddie's warning came too late.

The moment the ectoplasmic fishing line came off, Danny summoned the transformation rings. Maddie watched as pain passed across her son's face as he became flesh-and-blood human once more. To go from cold lifelessness to warm life had to excruciating for him; especially as ghosts had no heartbeat.

"It is," Danny confirmed, opening his blue eyes. His black hair was criss-crossed with large strands of white.

Jack smiled. "We'll have to go shopping for more hair dye, I see."

Danny flushed red with embarrasment. "Dad..."

Maddie hugged her son. "We love you no matter what, Danny. Ghost or human or in between, you are our son."

"But you're grounded for kidnapping the mayor," Jack added.

_Oi! Just when you thought you could get them to understand!_

* * *

"I think we should tell Danny," Sam said.

"I agree," Tucker replied, adjusting his glasses. "He should know that the school knows."

"What do you think his parents have done by now to him?"

"Nothing," came Tucker's reply, as he whipped out a PDA and looked up Danny's vitals. "He's another 1% changed toward the ghostly half of his DNA and some slight bruising on his arms and torso, but other than that, his stats seem to be alright."

"You can tell all that from this distance?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Technology is wonderful, baby," he said, kissing his PDA. "Isn't that right, snookums?"

"Gag!" Sam muttered. "Let's get to Danny's. Lancer said he trusted us enough to know what to do with our new-found knowledge."

"That's true," Tucker agreed. "We're Danny's friends and each other's. It's what we do."


End file.
